David Weiss on the fine — and finer — things in life

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Yes, you are correct, sir: Cancun itself is played. Too many gross gringos, too many down-at-heel flopjoints, too, too, too. The good news? An hour south of the airport — on the so-dubbed Riviera Maya — is an area jumping with luxury and amenities worthy of high praise. Atop the list is the Fairmont Mayakoba, ten minutes from the charming bustle of Playa del Carmen, but on a hideaway 700-foot stretch of virgin Caribbean white-sand beach.

The hotel sits on 50 acres of green-themed swamps, lagoons and canals and is flanked by a stunning Greg Norman designed 18 holes — El Camalon — that recently hosted a PGA event. And yes, Martha, even the golf course is Audubon International-certified, meaning care was taken to make this the eco-friendliest of the hulking resorts that dot the coastline here. Mangrove forests weave their way through the grounds and are traversed by wooden walkways.

Did I say walkways? Why walk when the hotel provides bicycles to ride from the main building to your room, from the pool to the beach and even to the Willow Stream Spa, a 16,000 sq. ft. marvel that is a deft combination of understated serenity and elegance. The golf course is challenging to be sure, as everywhere you look there are fairway-bordering canals that urge one to make shots and not just blast the ball to and fro. In case you need adjustment, there’s a Jim McLean Golf Academy on the premises that will fix what ails you.

You could just stay behind the gates and enjoy the high-end food and amenities, or venture forth to the ruins at Tulum or Chichen Itza. A rental car might be a good idea. Despite all the horror stories about renting and driving in Mexico, I had a great experience with Avis at the Cancun Airport. They were straightforward and friendly and offered a very competitive rate. But the Fairmont Mayakoba is the reason to pack: it ranks in my personal top three golf resorts on Earth. Bienvenidos, amigos….

When is an airline not just an airline? When it consistently puts a lust for profit squarely behind customer service, fair pricing and a human touch. Enter Southwest Airlines, since 1971 a leader in customer satisfaction surveys and a business success story all at the same time. What’s wrong with this picture? Nada, as we say in California. Nothing at all.

My most recent foray with the fine folks at SWA came after needing to change my departure to Tucson on rival US Air, then being told there’d be a $150 fee to do so, and an additional $700 bucks on top of that — because the old fare had expired. “$850 dollars, one way to Arizona?” I bellowed to the reservations agent, “I could fly to Cairo for that price!” “Sorry, sir,” she answered icily, “that’s our policy.”

Not only was I able to book immediate roundtrip passage on Southwest at a fraction of the price, there were no add-on fees for luggage, another good reason to choose them over their rapacious rivals. Their website also has a handy feature called the Low Fare Calendar tool, which shows the lowest price available for each day using a monthly calendar view. That saves you having to bounce from Travelocity to Expedia to Orbitz, etc.

All that and free peanuts and pretzels, wisecracking flight attendants and a sterling safety record. SWA has five hundred aircraft in their inventory (one of the youngest fleets in the industry) and flies over 100 million happy passengers annually. I am one of them. May they prosper.

Why is Virgin America the better, 21st century air buggy these days? Creature comforts like 110v power outlets at every seat; 3000 mp3s to listen to; “Red,” the in-flight entertainment center, with touch-screen access to flicks, television programming and a menu of actually edible food you can order from your seat without making a bloody nuisance of yourself. Coming next: in-flight broadband internet access.

It’s also nice to know you’re flying on brand new hardware — in this case, the Airbus A320, with nice leather seats and plenty of legroom. They even have mood lighting that changes with the time of day — no more fluorescent glare to blind you when it’s time for a night landing. Routes keep expanding on both coasts: from San Diego to Seattle, LA and SF, Vegas and Orange County and NYC, DC and JFK, acronymically speaking. Lastly, all these creature comforts come at a postmodern low price: e.g., less than a hundred bucks roundtrip from Frisco to Seattle, less than $260 between Hollywood and the Big Apple.

Who is David Weiss?

A Detroit native, David Weiss fled Motown for Los Angeles in 1978 and began to write for Daily Variety and the Los Angeles Herald Examiner, primarily as a music critic with a focus on jazz.

His own music career started soon thereafter, with the surrealistic funk band Was (Not Was), then various gigs as a composer and producer, working with Bob Dylan and Rickie Lee Jones among others.

In a parallel universe, Weiss has been filing golf and travel stories for T&L Golf, Golfweek and The New York Times and is a regular contributor to NPR's "All Things Considered" program, doing stories on music and all things cultural.